Man kills wife over offensive phone call

A 57-year-old man from Triangle, Masvingo Province, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for fatally striking his wife with a stone before dumping her body in a well after becoming angered by a phone call she received from another man.

Phinias Hatihlani was sentenced by the High Court after being convicted of culpable homicide in the death of his wife, Vhenekayi Gwanhoya, on May 24, 2023.

The court heard that Hatihlani suspected Gwanhoya of infidelity and became enraged when she received what he believed was a romantic phone call from a man identified as Chikwanda.

In a fit of anger, he struck her once on the head with a stone, killing her. After realising she was dead, Hatihlani dumped her body in a well, threw her cellphone into a Blair toilet and fled the family home.

He remained at large until December last year, when he resurfaced and was arrested.

A post-mortem examination established that Gwanhoya died from a head injury caused by blunt force trauma.

Although Hatihlani initially faced a murder charge, the court ultimately convicted him of the lesser offence of culpable homicide, finding that he had acted negligently rather than with an established intention to kill.

Justice Christopher Dube-Sibanda said Hatihlani had fallen below the standard expected of a reasonable person by failing to foresee the risk of death and take steps to prevent it.

The judge expressed particular concern over Hatihlani's conduct after the killing, including his efforts to conceal the crime and his prolonged flight from justice.

"He is not remorseful but merely feeling sorry for himself for having been caught and made to account for this crime," Justice Dube-Sibanda said.

The judge also noted that Hatihlani had struck a vulnerable part of his wife's body and used excessive force, resulting in her death.

In sentencing, the court highlighted the growing concern over violence against women and killings committed by intimate partners.

"This country is currently engulfed in a sea of violent crimes ravaging vulnerable sections of our society like women, with a never-ending scourge of femicide which continues to alarming levels," the judge said.

Justice Dube-Sibanda said general deterrence was an important consideration given the prevalence of domestic violence and the number of women killed by their intimate partners.

In mitigation, the court heard that Hatihlani was a first offender who had pleaded guilty to culpable homicide. He had two wives and seven children who depended on him as their sole provider. His lawyer also told the court that he had lost his job after spending nine months in pre-trial detention and argued that the killing had not been planned.

However, the judge ruled that these personal circumstances did not outweigh the seriousness of the offence and the suffering caused to Gwanhoya's family.

Hatihlani was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, with two years suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.